King Luther Capital Management Corp Trims Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

King Luther Capital Management Corp decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,625,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 10,923 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.2% of King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $497,073,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morling Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Morling Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,754 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 502,379 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $95,100,000 after buying an additional 2,810 shares during the period. Abrams Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Abrams Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,124,130 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $402,098,000 after acquiring an additional 56,935 shares during the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 45,541 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,621,000 after acquiring an additional 5,793 shares during the period. Finally, Riverbend Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,481,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $163.99 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $182.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.65. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $147.22 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. DZ Bank cut shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.59.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.